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Spazz Fest Uncorks!

Last night marked the opening of Spazz Fest IV and it popped. For the first time ever, the festival acts played two venues simultaneously (The Tipsy Teapot and Peasants), and the fun continues tonight. Check out our Spazz Fest tab (scroll to the top–you can’t miss it) for schedules by day and venue.

There was a lot of positive energy floating around last night. Lots of happy folks, who were pleased with the shows at both sites. Peasant’s had the biggest metal show that Greenville has seen in awhile with Aether Realm, Thunderlip, Grohg, and The Kickass. Choosing venues will be the toughest part of Spazz Fest this year. There are so many good acts at each venue, and this year promises to be the best year of the Spazz Fest with more shows, more venues and more exposure than ever before (seriously, check out the tab above).

We settled in at The Tipsy Teapot last night. The Tipsy show opened with Matt Recko who was followed by The Winter Mission, The Capital, and FS. The closing act was Matt Phillips and the Philharmonic. Musically, Phillips and the Philharmonic could not be more different than the acts that preceded them; power pop and punk bands who prefer crunchy guitars and driving rhythm to rock the crowd.

Matt Phillips & The Philharmonic

Phillips and crew reflect the sweet, soulful side of Southern music. They revel and reinvent the conventional and feature horns, piano, and the traditional rock instruments: guitar, bass guitar and drums. On the surface, there appeared to be a misalignment of acts. Why close with this band? After seeing Phillips and The Philharmonic, that question was moot.

Confident, charismatic and captivating, Matt Phillips and the Philharmonic really popped the top off the Tipsy last night. We’ve seen similar performances in the past from the likes of The Charming Youngsters (Spazz Fest 3), The Rex Complex with Railbird (Spazz Fest 2), Fang Island (Spazz Fest 1) and the power opening of Spazz Fest 2 with Motor Skills, Thank You and Future Islands. As an observer, it’s enthralling to see the reciprocation occurring between crowd and band. The two were clearly feeding off each other, and the subsequent positive energy was beyond palpable. The room oozed with it. You can’t manufacture that.

If you missed last night, no worries. There’s so much more! So, get out and enjoy what’s left. SpazzFest comes but once a year to our emerald hamlet.